Sun Ra Arkestra
TRYING to condense Sun Ra’s sprawling discography into just nine albums is no easy task. The legendary bandleader issued hundreds of records during his lifetime, with DIY releases on his own El Saturn imprint often piecing together music from various sessions, with different lineups of his ever-revolving Arkestra. “We got so many recordings, it’s overwhelming,” admits Marshall Allen, who’s played alto sax, flute or oboe on most Sun Ra releases since 1959, and is amazingly still going strong at 96.
Allen has led the Arkestra since the deaths of Sun Ra in 1993 and right-hand man John Gilmore two years later; he and saxophonist Knoel Scott (who joined in 1979) still live in the famous Sun Ra house in Germantown, Philadelphia. “We can rehearse 24 hours a day if we want to – that’s the way he [Sun Ra] set it up. At nights, you just have to be a little quieter.”
“The neighbours are cool,” adds Scott. “I remember one time when the band wasn’t rehearsing, our next-door neighbour said, ‘What’s wrong, I don’t hear no music!’ Music has always been an organic part of the African-American community.” Covid may have halted rehearsals for now, but with a new Arkestra album in the can, Sun Ra’s colossal legacy continues to astound and inspire. “Sun Ra was larger than life – you knew he was something special,” says Scott. “He was a master on so many levels.”
JAZZ IN SILHOUETTE
EL SATURN, 1959
s ‘Chicago era’. Its big band sound is still relatively traditional, but there are ‘ forecasts of tomorrow’ on the freer “Ancient Aiethopia”
In ’58, [] Joe Segal played me a Sun Ra demo which had “Super Blonde” and some of those first numbers that he did. I] told me, “Well, he’s looking for talent. He rehearses up at the [] Ballroom every night.” When I got off work the next day, I took my horn and ran down there to meet Sun Ra. The band were rehearsing and he was over there, writing some poetry or something. I went to see him and he talked, talked, talked, talked. He never said come back or nothing, but the next night I was right back. Every night I’d go there and listen, but I didn’t have no space [] and he didn’t tell me. Finally one night he was sitting there on piano and he played “Spontaneous Simplicity” and said, “Play on this.” And that’s the way I got in there.
